Cultural Confrontation and the Emergence of Ontogenesis of the Self in Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease

Abstract

‘Ontogenesis of the self’ implies a profound empirical formation of the ‘self’. Itis the result of the turbulent experience of one’s urge for survival in a pluralistic world.The individual develops a social identity or a self-definition that includes how he/sheconceptualizes the ‘self’. The ‘self’ is broadly defined as the essential quality that makesa person distinct from the ‘other’. Chinua Achebe, the legendary writer of Nigeria fictionalizes the traumatic experiences left behind by colonialism and its effect in individual’s ontogenesis of self. The protagonist, Obi, inNo Longer at Easeundergoes a lot of turmoil, including the doubtabout the existence of identity, and at one stage it becomes more assertive, paving way for a likeningtowards self-assertion. The ‘self’ is the idea of a unified being which is the source of an idiosyncratic consciousness. It is also considered the agent responsible for the thoughts and actions of an individual. Obi’s European upbringing renders him ignorant of certain native social modes, his transformation in accordance with the changing
values puts him in a state of chaos. The present paper “Ontogenesis of the Self: An Interpretation of Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease” tries to throw light on an urge of an individual’s survival in hybrid society.